Title of Collection

Creators

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

9-18-2015

Inclusive Dates--Span

1948-2014

Inclusive Dates--Bulk

1948-1980

Donor Note

Donated by Herald of Truth

Arrangement

When the collection arrived at Brown Library (in at least two installments from the early 1970s to the early 1980s), paper materials and Art Haddox’s office files were boxed and labeled into series. Reels and film were shelved according to program number. Some box lists and program lists were created, although it is unclear whether these originated at Herald of Truth (and were thus used in-house by the ministry administration and staff) or whether they were created or modified by ACU Library staff. No single comprehensive finding aid across the set of records existed. In February 2015 eighty cubit-foot boxes of printed matter, publicity materials, office files, scripts and digital assets were added to the existing collection. This accrual contained, for the most part, materials published between 1975 and 2014.
A careful survey and verification process began in September 2014, across the entire set of records, to determine the reliability of previous box lists, registers and shelf lists. In nearly every case these lists proved accurate so far as they went. In some cases they were incomplete and in a few cases we noted where film or reel recordings appeared in the lists but were absent from the shelf. We retained the basic arrangement of the collection and formalized a series structure that reflected the existing arrangement. Processors verified contents of physical containers against the box lists, eliminated duplicate or inaccurate information from reel and film lists, and created a new series for marketing and publicity materials generated by the organization.
We retained Art Haddox’s office files as a set, including scripts that are duplicated elsewhere in the records. We retained scripts in the Haddox sub-series on the basis that they bear his editorial remarks and notes of approval. In many places among files, we noted the presence of boxes simply labeled ‘Miscellaneous.’ Upon completion of the initial survey we determined that by reordering and rehousing these materials into more appropriate sub-series, we could improve their accessibility and description without compromising or disrupting the creator’s original order.
The Sub-Series structure is mainly topical in nature. The Sub-Series are generally arranged in chronolgical or alphabetical order by name of person, topic or entity. Series I is comprised of Adminsitrative and Internal Documents, the bulk of which are lengthy sets of correspondence. Where duplication or overlap among Sub-Series, the user should understand that the orginal order was retained as much as possible and that the 2015 accrual was added to the existing collection. For example, Seires I.L contains materials collected by Clois Fowler by and about Batsell Barrett Baxter, some of which duplicates items held elsewhere. We elected to rpeserve the set as is on the basis of Fowler’s agency in assembling it. In other words, we preserved it as is in order to reflect Fowler’s use of the material and not only out of consideration of the intrinsic content of the items themselves.
Series II contains the public-facing radio and television programming produced by Herald of Truth. The overall strcuutre is generally chronological, the bulk of the set comprising radio and television scripts from the first three decades. Sub-Series E-K are largely accruals and are relatively smaller in quanity, therefore were added to the end of the Series. A bulk of the quantity of Series II are 16mm film reels and 6-inch magnetic tape reels of the programs themselves in addition to the printed programs scripts or transcripts. These items were left in their original containers, verified against exisiting registers and reflected by the letter codes in the programs lists. The cannisters themselves are shelved in numerical order by program number adjacent to the cubit-foot boxes of pape-based records.
Series III contains published promotional and publicity materials generated by Herald of Truth in the course of advertising, fundraising and public relations on behalf of the ministry. Sub-Series arrangement generally reflects material type, nature or title of the publication. Processers retained two copies of all materials generated by Herald of Truth and relocated additional copies as needed to bound and unbound periodical files and shelved book holdings in Center for Restoration Studies. One copy of tracts and booklets not produced by Herald of Truth but utilized by them were retained in III.B for their evidentiary value as supplements offered by the ministry to complement the programming. Unneeded duplicates were removed and cataloged with other like items in for Restoration Studies.

Share

NOTE: The latest versions of Adobe Reader do not support viewing PDF files within Firefox on Mac OS and if you are using a modern (Intel) Mac, there is no official plugin for viewing PDF files within the browser window.